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Denim brand Timezone on the pros of social engagement

by Lorenzo Molina — May 24, 2016

On June 5, the Berliner Waldbühne is going to host amazing voices for a great aim: The Peace by Peace festival (from now on, P x P) is an initiative where artists and all those involved forget about the pay, as all profits and donations are destined to support international help projects from Unicef in conflict areas like Syria, South Sudan or the Ukraine. This edition, denim brand Timezone will produce the merchandising products –tees and tote bags– that will be sold on the ground. The cherry on top of a longstanding social engagement that embraces causes such as clothes donation to refugees’ accommodation in the region where the company is headquartered, Bavaria (Germany). Chief executive Uwe Kauert and head of marketing and e-commerce Sven Schlager share with us the importance of community involvement and in which ways one can measure the benefits in terms of brand awareness of such an altruist move.

Photo: Timezone

White t-shirts for the Peace by Peace Festival in Berlin, produced by Timezone.

Photo: Timezone

P x P Festival tote bags by Timezone.

We’ve seen the European political class struggling with the refugee crisis. You’re now going to support children affected by war conflicts and refugees by collaborating with the PxP Festival. In general terms, do you think that fashion brands are doing enough in terms of social engagement and community involvement? Why?

U. Kauert: I can’t really evaluate the social activities of fashion brands in total. All I know, there are a lot of opportunities, needs and projects, where help and support is necessary and I’m sure that more social commitment and community involvement is indeed possible. Each brand has to take its individual decision concerning their activities in this matter just as we have done.

Besides your support to the PxP Festival in Berlin, do you have concrete plans to carry out further initiatives in order to help those in need? If so, which ones?

S. Schlager: We all have a big responsibility to care about what happens on this planet. So we are always open to help, when people inside the company or from our network of good people have good ideas to support a good cause.

It doesn´t matter if it´s HQ staff that collects donations for a local charity or something big like the P x P festival. For us this is something from the heart, so for sure we are going to continue supporting good causes on different topics. Mostly without making a fuss about it. More actions, less talk.

We are going to continue supporting good causes on different topics. Mostly without making a fuss about it. More actions, less talk.

Sven Schlager, Timezone's head of marketing and e-commerce

How do you measure the success of this kind of initiatives (PxP Festival) in terms of brand awareness for Timezone?

S. Schlager: Basically we use regular tools like professional media clipping, website analytics, social media analytics, etc. Besides that we listen really carefully to our own people, sales reps, dealers and personal networks on how such big initiatives like P x P and the involvement of Timezone is recognized and reflected on the brand. At the end, the evaluation of such initiatives is a mix of numbers and good feelings, topped with a smile on our faces because we supported something good!

Photo: Timezone

Grey t-shirts for the Peace by Peace Festival in Berlin, produced by Timezone.